Both DNxHD and DNxHR have a predefined bitrates for specific frame rates. The values are available in the codecs specifications, but the most critical things you need to know about DNx- encoding is that there are predefined quality levels, and for each of the levels for different input frame rates there are pre-defined bitrates.
The quality levels available are:
- LB - Low Bitrate Offline Quality
- SQ - Standard Quality (suitable delivery format)
- HQ - High Quality
- HQX - High Quality Extended 10-bit (UHD/4K Broadcast-quality delivery)
- 444 - Finishing Quality 4:4:4 10-bit (Cinema-quality delivery)
The codecs support progressive frame rates only.
So, to encode a file with DNxHD or DNxHR with mediaEngine, you should set the target resolution (720p, 1080p, or UHD), and just a few of codec-specific parameters.
Here are the available parameters for the codec:
- ColorVolume - sets a color primaries type.
Possible values:-
- 1 - Rec.709
- 2 - Rec.2020
- 3 - Rec.2020
- 4 - out-of-band
-
- ColorFormat - sets a color format.
Possible values are:-
- 1 - YCbCr
- 2 - RGB
-
- SubSampling - sets chroma sampling type.
Possible values are:-
- 1 - 4:2:0
- 2 - 4:2:2
-
- BitDepth - sets a bit depth.
Possible values are:-
- 8
- 10
- 12
-
- AlphaPresent - sets whether alpha encoding is supported or not. By default, it is disabled ("0"), and can be enabled ("1") only for 4:4:4 video encoding.
- Quality - sets a quality level.
Possible values:-
- 1 - LB
- 2 - SQ
- 3 - HQ
- 4 - HQX
- 5 - 444
-
A reference preset you can find attached to the article. Open it with a text editor and change parameters in the [DNXEncoderSettings] section to match the desired results. Then, in the [VideoEncoderSettings] section, change the frame rate and resolution.
Here you can find useful links where you can get more information about DNxHD and DNxHR encoding parameters: